I Ran Brooklyn! NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon Recap 2013

I was really looking forward to the NYRR Brooklyn Half Marathon. I hadn’t run that distance since my son Roman was just 4 months old, when I ran the Covered Bridges Half Marathon in Woodstock, Vermont (a race I highly recommend, by the way!) Originally when I applied for Brooklyn, I figured I would be well into a groove of regular running and a training plan by the time the race rolled around.

As it turned out, I was a tiny bit optimistic about my training. I was, at least, getting the long runs in every week for 12 weeks leading up to the race, so I knew I’d be able to complete it with no problem. I just decided to go easy on myself and treat it more as a fun run – not go for any kind of time goal.

That also meant when NYRR re-opened the race to allow more people to run, instead of being annoyed that the extra runners would mean congestion at the start, I was even more excited about the race. More runners equals a super fun, exciting atmosphere and the fact that number pick-up was an expo sponsored by New Balance in Dumbo, rather than just traipsing up to the NYRR offices, made it even more fun!

The morning of the race was perfect for running. It was about 50 degrees and cloudy, but not too humid. I was happy to be walking to the start rather than taking the subway. While I walked, I ate a PB&J sandwich, meaning I’d have about an hour after eating before my wave started.

There was a huge crowd of runners – just over 21,000 finishers, so there were 2 waves for starting, at 7am and 7:30am. I was in the first wave. We heard the gun go off and started shuffling forward, walking, walking, walking. It was nearly 7:20 by the time I crossed the start line! Oddly, even though it took such a long time to get to the start and we were pretty sardined in together, as soon as I crossed the line, I was running in the open, with lots of spacing between runners.

The course was new this year – the last time I ran it was 2 loops of Prospect Park, followed by a long, flat straight down Ocean Parkway to Coney Island. This time it started by the Museum, looped around Grand Army Plaza and the Farmer’s Market, 1 loop of the park, then Ocean Parkway to Coney Island. SO much better! Not having that second loop of the Park meant 1 less hill, as well as being a more interesting course (especially for us Brooklyn runners who know the Park loop like the back of our hand). I saw my client (and last week’s Fit Mama Friday), Tracy, there cheering with her boys. Then I saw my husband Fran and baby boy Roman. I took a quick moment to steal a kiss. 🙂

Even though I definitely preferred the route this year, I have to say, that long stretch of Ocean Parkway is pretty brutal. It’s flat, it’s straight and there are far fewer spectators cheering. A pro AND a con is that the cross avenues as you run are alphabetized, so on the one hand it’s good to watch the letters tick away, but on the other hand there were a couple of moments where I found myself thinking along the lines of, “I’m only at ‘M’?? I’ll never make it to ‘Z’!”

I ate some gummy bears (my race fuel of choice) at about mile 8 and it was at mile 9 that I not only got a second wind, I also realized I was running a much faster pace than I’d expected. I felt great, so started picking up the pace slightly. By the time I was at about Avenue X, I was sure I would run a sub-2:00 time. Alas, that final turn to get up onto the boardwalk was a sharp turn, steep and congested and by the time I got onto the boards I was really having trouble pushing it. I did sprint the last 50 meters or so and ended up finishing in 2:00:51. I couldn’t be happier, though – I ran negative splits (my second half of the race was faster than the first), I was much faster than I predicted and the only after effects I felt were sore calves, which just lasted a day. I also high-fived NYRR CEO Mary Wittenberg, so that was pretty cool. 🙂

This was the first race I’d run since the tragedy at the Boston Marathon. I was curious to see how different the experience would be from a security standpoint. Here’s what NYRR did to ensure runner and spectator safety:

• Clear bags only for baggage
• No Camelbak style hydration packs allowed
• No bags allowed into Porta potties
• No trash cans along the course or at the start (there were clear bags tied to fences instead)
• Plenty of cops along the course and at the finish line

All in all, while I’m sure it was more of a clean-up headache for the organizers, I definitely felt safe.

Running Brooklyn made me even more excited about running the ING New York City Marathon this November. It made me realize I am still in good aerobic condition, despite not running as often as I’d like these days. Once I get going with my training and plan my time out appropriately, I have no doubt I’ll enjoy running the streets of Brooklyn (and Staten Island and Queens and the Bronx and Manhattan!) later this year for the full.

VIVA BROOKLYN!